The Notting Hill Mystery: British
Library Crime Classics
Charles Warren Adams
Poisoned Pen, Jul 15 2015, $12.95
ISBN 9781464204807
In 1858 London, insurance investigator Ralph Henderson strongly
believes Baron R murdered his wife Madame R last year; though proving the
clever hypnosist killed her requires slow methodical collection of evidence to
overcome the contention of a tragic accident.
Her death from drinking acid in her husband’s lab while she supposedly
was sleep-walking fueled Henderson’s suspicion of uxoricide. Henderson feels the motive is greed; as the
Baron took out five-5,000 pound each life policies on his mate in different
cities between late 1855 and early 1856.
Thus the Baron had means, motive and opportunity.
This reprint (to include the original drawings) of one of the first detective stories is an intriguing mid
Victorian as the hero struggles to prove his assertion that the husband killed
his wife to collect life insurance. The
storyline has the serialization problems of repetition, inconsistencies and
boring filler to meet a weekly standard (still a problem in the internet
age). Although an over the top of Big
Ben villain, The Notting Hill Mystery is a period
piece for curious historical mystery aficionados.
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